Monday, June 18, 2012

I had wanted to run 200 miles
ever since I completed 150 miles a few years ago at McNaughton in Illinois. The
race director moved to Vermont and offered a 200 mile race. I wanted to run it
but couldn’t get myself to travel across the country for it. So I decided to
create one of my own on the 9.4 mile loop around the Lake Youngs Watershed only
5 minutes from my house. I had several other runners interested in the 200. The
first one was Bob Satko, who had only run a couple 50Ks before signing up but
enthusiastically showed interest in the 200. He did run 100 miles at
the Pac Rim 24hr 2 months before the 200.

Bob and pacer Patti Krebsbach

Another was George Orozco, who
had yet to finish his first 100 mile before signing up, but ran strong at
Badger Mountain Challenge at the end of March. Before he started running, George topped out at 340 pounds. And if you think running is all that he does, think again. Geroge is married and has three kids. He works two jobs. I started running with him on Squak Mountain, and since then, my hill climbing has improved.

George flying after a good night's rest

Others included Jason "Ras" Vaughn, Tracey Nguyen, and Pat Ackley. Tony Covarrubias, who knew the Lake
Youngs trail well when he lived in Washington, opted to come back and run my
200 mile instead of returning to Vermont for his second attempt to finish the
500 mile there. He was able to complete over 300 miles in 2011. He now lives in
Alaska with his equally talented wife Shawn McTaggert, who earlier in the year
finished her second 350 mile Iditarod foot race.

Pat with the bib number and Tracey (DNS-injured) 2nd from left

Tony Covarrubias from Alaska

Jason Vaughn aka Ras Jahson Ites Tafari sporting the race hoody

To my surprise, and even more so
my husband, the parks department granted me permission to allow running through
the night. I immediately set about creating a website and gathering event
information to entice others to join. I included a 150 mile and 100 mile option
for those not yet ready for the 200 but it was clear on the website that the
100 was for the wimps. The race slowly but surely started filling up. I put a
cap of 75 total runners and the race sold out 2 months before the event weekend.
I chose to start it before Memorial Day Weekend to allow everyone an extra day
to recover before returning to work. I got approval in September 2011 and spent
the next 8 months organizing my first super long distance race. I have put on
shorter races for years but I wanted this first event to be special and put my
heart into it. After I set up the website, I started designing the finisher’s
buckle. I have a bit of a pig fetish and collect many things pig. I knew I had
to have pigs on the belt buckle and decided that they would replace the zeros.
As soon as I posted the picture of the buckle on the website, people were
already talking about signing up just to get that buckle! The 150 however, only got one pig and the 100 got 2. This saddened the 150 milers but I'm sure the accomplishment made up for it.

Next, I created a Facebook page
and it was fun seeing people’s posts. I took pictures of the trail so that no
one would be surprised that the trail wraps around the watershed and that you
would be running next to a chain linked fence the entire time. But it is still
beautiful in many places. Eric Sach, the owner of the Balanced Athlete, helped
me order the CRAFT hoodies that every entrant was going to receive. I had them embroidered at a business near my
home, and they did a great job! They were a big hit. Eric also helped me order
the gels, Shot Bloks, and salt pills.

Eric paced several runners all weekend

Next, I worked on the buttons
that I was planning on handing out to all the finishers. The 200 milers got a
button with, “Nuff said,” the 150 with, “The middle child,” and the 100 with,
“I only did the half.” They got this in addition to their buckle. When the buttons were
finished, I started creating the large results boards, which were instrumental
in keeping everyone abreast of the runner’s progress as volunteers, pacers,
crew, etc took pictures of the lap splits and posted them on Facebook. It
really made the event feel bigger!

The 150 and 100 had their own boards

I spent hours shopping at Costco,
Safeway, and Fred Meyer buying food and supplies for the race and trying to
figure out what runners would want. Generally, I am very self sufficient and
need little from the aid stations but for a 200 mile event, I wanted as much
available as possible for everyone.My
basement started filling up with boxes and boxes of supplies. I had met with
one of the pastors at the church across the street to ask if we could use their
parking lot for overflow. They also gave us permission to set up tents there over the weekend. I ordered different color bibs for each race distance so that the person keeping lap splits would be able to identify them easily.

I tried to work with King County
Roads to have a short out and back section for each loop to make it an even
10miles, but they required a certified
course monitor at all times since there is not a shoulder to run on.
Impossible! So the 200 milers had to settle with running 21 loops with a short
out and back and the 150 milers 16 loops.The 100 milers an out and back and then 10 loops. The course was
certified by Tony Sebolt and Tony Phillippi. TP also helped me get the race
banner, and apparently people liked that so much that runners were taking
photos underneath it all weekend. My husband did a great job getting it set up.

Jonathan Bernard, Ken my husband, and Tony Phillippi﻿

I ordered water bottles and reusable shopping bags
with the race logo on it. Scott McCoubrey with SCOTT products sent me workout
towels, SCOTT koozies (keeps drinks cold or hot), shirts, hoodies, and six vouchers
for a free pair of SCOTT shoes for the winners of each distance. I had a race
packet stuffing party a few weeks before the race. I had laid everything out in
piles and had labeled the bib numbers with racer’s names and jacket size so
that it would be easier to stuff the bags. I even had pins already attached to
the bibs. Am I OCD or what? My two co-race directors Gwen Scott and Jess Mullen
came. Also, Mary Hanna and her daughter Jenny were there along with my husband.
We worked assembly type fashion and got all the race packets done lickety
split! Jess was my volunteer coordinator and was instrumental in filling all
the volunteer shifts over the weekend. We had an amazing crew of volunteers and
runners raved about them all weekend! My website lists their names.

My amazing co-RDs!

The 2 weeks leading up to the
race were busier than I had wanted. Working full time and taking call added to
the stress. I had everything organized for the event but there are some things
you can only do immediately beforehand. I still needed to pick up tables and
canopies that I was borrowing from friends (thanks Matt Hagen, Scott Krell,
Jerry Thayer, and Eric Sach), purchase perishable foods at the last minute, and
boil potatoes. The weekend before, I mowed the lawn, cleaned the house, and did
all the laundry knowing that I would be wiped out from running and directing
the race. I carried all the boxes up from my basement to the main floor to save
my legs closer to race day. Finally, two days before the race, my husband and I
picked up the U-Haul truck and had our large propane tanks filled to attach to
heaters to keep volunteers warm at night.We loaded all the supplies into the rental U-Haul truck, which took an
entire day. I had to fill numerous water jugs and load them as well. The day
before, I had to meet one last time with the Park Ranger and Fire department to
go over a safety plan. Needless to say, I did not feel rested going into my 200
mile run. My race year had gone well. I had PR’d nearly all my races and my
mileage was solid. The only mistake I made was wearing lighter minimal shoes (they felt
great on my feet and allowed me to run faster) for those races and training runs. The decreased support resulted
in my plantar fasciitis returning and bothering me before the 200.

Fortunately, I slept fairly
decently before I had to wake up at 3:30am Thursday morning, May 24. It was
slightly drizzling, but for the most part, the weather for the weekend was
perfect. It stopped raining, then we had a very short burst that was not
drenching, and then we had a thunderstorm roll through Friday afternoon, but
that was also short. No one got soaking wet. Saturday got a little warm into
the upper 70s.

After my husband and I arrived at the race start, we started
unloading and setting up. Gwen had already arrived along with several
volunteers. Jerry Thayer had set up his canopies and tables. I tried to do as little
as I could with the set up to save myself for the 200, but that was hard since
I was the one who loaded the truck and knew where everything was. Fortunately,
there were a lot of helpers and we got most things set up except for the food.
All the 200 milers checked in. I had a total of 19 sign up. Bill Davenport had
to pull out. Colleen Voeks and Tracey Nguyen had injuries that prevented them
from adequately training for the 200. Tetsuro Ogata from Japan had to work. That
left us with 15 starters for the 200. Wildman Willet arrived late, stating he
drove around for hours trying to find the trailhead. He eventually got started
after we all had completed our out and back.

Jerry Thayer with his dog on another trail. Jerry is always very helpful at my races with supplies. ﻿

The
200 milers started at 6am. Well, a little after 6. I wanted to record my 200
miles on my Suunto pod, but when I tried to turn it on, it didn’t work. I
thought I had put a fresh battery in but it must have been a dead one. I
frantically tried to replace it with a new one but I kept dropping it. Finally, I got
it to work and it was so cool to have that 200 miles on my watch at the end.
(Actually, it recorded 206 because it runs a little long, but not bad for a
foot pod. Or maybe I was weaving a lot more than I thought.)

We did a short 1.3 mi out and 1.3 back then started our first full
loop of 21 loops. Slowly, we spread out,
but each loop was run in reverse, so you got to see everyone frequently. That
was nice. Each loop had 900 feet of elevation gain. The main aid station was at
the start/finish and had most of the food. There was an aid station halfway
that had some food as well as water. I stocked wrapped candy, gels, bagged
chips, and packaged cookies. There was a bottle of Succeed there, Vaseline,
Blue Steel anti-chafe, Nuun tablets, and Gatorade. I had a garbage can with a
lid with a small opening on top so that animals could not get into it. Next
year I am hoping to put a sanican there. This was all under a canopy in case it rained.

Still smiling in the early miles

The rolling terrain became
challenging as the miles passed and soon we were walking all the hills. I had
pacers to keep me company for most of the race. I ran the first two loops
alone. Then, Kathleen Leonard joined me for three loops. She is planning on
running her first 100 at Cascade this year. I think she will do well. I enjoyed
her company. Fortunately, I was still in a good mood with it being early in the
race. I found after the first loop that I needed my gaiters. I told my husband
where they were in my hobby room and he brought it back for me. The stress of
organizing the race and working full time affected me more than I expected. My
legs felt heavy from the get go. I had stomach problems in the first two loops
and had to make two pit stops. That never happens to me. It finally settled
down. (Yes that was me, Kim Kuhlmann, who put the nice toilet paper in the
bathrooms. I don’t need chafing down there for 200 miles.) In 100 mile races, I spend
very little time at the aid stations. I am so well organized that I can grab
what I need and go. But this race, I was finding myself taking 5 minutes or
more each lap whether it was to use the bathroom, put on gaiters, or eat plenty
to keep going. That is one thing I did fine this race. I ate well. I never
bonked. I only once took a gel a half hour late.

Kathleen Leonard pacing me

My plantar fasciitis bothered me very early, like in
the second loop. I definitely used up a lot of energy the rest of the race
compensating and worrying about it. As a result, other parts of my body started to hurt. My lap splits continued to increase. The
runners ahead of me just kept getting further ahead. But likewise, the runners
behind me got further behind, so I guess I was slowing appropriately for my
pace. One of my co-workers, Renae Foster, came after work on Thursday to run
one loop with me. I had completed 50 miles but my pace was slow from my heel
pain. I was worried she would get bored. She had run the New York City marathon
in 4 hours, so she is a good runner. I know that when I run slower than my
pace, it hurts. I could tell that my shuffle was painful for her. But she was
thrilled to be a part of my race. She hears all about my adventures at work and
it was fun for her to finally see me in action. After Kathleen finished her
three loops with me, Renae joined me. We had a good time. Gwen wanted to run a
loop with me, but she had to get home. Jess was supposed to take over at 8PM.
Ken manned the fort until Jess got there.

Running with co-worker Renae Foster

I was concerned about running by myself on the trail
before Jerry Thayer was supposed to run with me at night, starting at 9pm. When I came back with Renae, I
asked if anyone wanted to run with me. Danny Kulhmann was volunteering, but
there was plenty of help, so I asked him if he wanted to run. He did not
hesitate. I can say this now and not get
him in trouble. He was supposed to save himself for crewing and pacing his dad
and sister for the 100. But that was over a day away. I was not going to wear
him out too much. Danny was great. Just the right amount of conversation. And
he ran my pace well. We had such a good time so I asked him to run another with
me. It got dark as we were finishing our second loop together but Danny forgot
his light. He was able to feel his way. And he went on to do a great job
crewing his dad and sister to their 100 mile finishes, both their first and Kim
with the women’s win.

Danny, thrilled to pace me!

Jerry took over the next lap. By
now, my conversation started to fade. Jerry was good in running quietly next to
me. It was nice just to have someone there. He had his dog along, who had fun running in the dark. We did encounter an angry resident. It was
after 10pm. He was standing out on his back porch and yelled as we ran by,
“What are you doing out there? Get off the trail!” We told him that we had a
permit for the event. He mumbled, “Holyshit!” I’m glad Jerry was there. It
would have been scary on my own.

My next pacer was Joe Hafner. By
now, I wasn’t talking at all, but Joe had plenty of stories to tell. He did 2
loops with me. By the second loop, I was getting very sleepy. That was when I
got a little behind in my eating. It was now Friday morning and the 150 milers
were getting started. It was good to have fresh blood the on the trails and
some new energy. I felt so slow and pathetic compared to their bouncy strides.
I had not yet slept. A couple runners, Bob Satko and George Orozco went home to
sleep. Bob said he would not do that again. It was too hard to get going again.
George had to seriously focus to get back on the trails, but once he got back,
he was smokin’. We already had some DNFs of the 200 milers on the first day. Apparently, Wildman Willet did two loops and decided to pull out a lounge chair and take a nap in the sun. He did wake up hours later and run a few more loops, but unofficially, since Gwen made an executive decision to take him out of the race. Sy Vu was the second runner to stop. He had run
7 loops, or 68.4 miles. Tony Covarrubias had pulled his calf and was struggling
with running the hills. He was still able to walk strong and talked about walking the hills and running the flats and downhills the
rest of the race, which was nearly another 85 miles. He had called Shawn and she
advised against it since they had a whole summer of running planned. He had
stopped to rest it after 9 laps and thought was feeling better but he knew he
was slowing down. I think he had a talk with Glenn Tachiyama and decided to
save himself for another day. He had completed 115.4 miles. It was too bad, I
hardly got to talk to him while he was here. He was able to catch an early
flight back to see Shawn, so many also missed seeing him. Another runner, Scott
Conrad, who wore giant earphones andsang to himself a lot, decided he was going to stop after 12 loops as
well. I think I remember him saying that his ankle was bothering him. He said
he had a lot of fun anyway. He’s a purist like me. He returned his jacket since
he didn’t earn it. I am the same way, I will not wear clothing or use schwag
that I have not earned. Even before the race started, I did not wear my jacket,
use my water bottle, or the reusable shopping bag because I didn’t want to jinx
myself.

Scott sang his way through 115.4 miles

Garrett Mulrooney, who I didn’t get to talk to at all and didn’t know
all that well, dropped after 13 loops or 124.8 miles. I am not sure what was
ailing him.

Garrett Mulrooney

I continued to plod along. I had
completed 50 miles in 9:36 and 100 miles in 22:08 (good for second female in
the 100 mile race). My 150 mile time was about 36:30, over 11 hours faster than
my McNaughton time. All these statistics only tell one thing. I was running too
fast. No wonder I was tired and hurting. It took me another 16 hours to finish
the last 50 miles. But that really was just pure fatigue. Usually, I can go 35
hours without feeling sleepy. This race, it was 20 hours. The stress of organizing the race and training for the 200 finally caught up with me. I was
really feeling I was dragging ass. I tried three times to sleep, but my feet
would instantly start throbbing as soon as they stopped moving and kept me from
sleeping. I just had to keep walking/running. I continued to fuel my body. I
ate just about anything. Hot dogs, pizza, watermelon, cookies, soup. That
department was fine. I fortunately did not lose my appetite and never had any nausea.

Another girl from work joined me
Friday morning after I had run about 120 miles. Stephanie works in our
ambulatory surgery center. She is super nice and I really wished I could have
gotten to know her personal life better. She had a ton of questions for me, but
I asked her politely if we could just run. My conversation energy was still
low. I felt bad that she was not having fun, but she reassured me she did. I
tried to keep a decent pace but found that aggravated my plantar fasciitis.

It was nice to see the other runners
with various pacers. Ken Michal had a smile on his face every time I saw him.
He was such an inspiration! We developed a new 200 mile greeting. It was when
two runners doing the 200 mile would stop and chat. Immediately, both would
lean forward and brace their arms on their thighs or knees. This was a much
more comfortable position than just standing there and talking.

Ken, never without a smile!

It was amazing
to see the amount of support us runners were getting. We were very spoiled.
Everything appeared to be running smoothly at the main aid station thanks to
Gwen, Jess, and husband Ken. Ken checked the half way aid station and reloaded us as
needed. We had volunteers 24/7. I can’t even remember seeing some of them, but
thank you so much for being there. Ken went and got pizza Thursday night, and
that tasted awesome! I had pre-ordered the pizza, and apparently we had enough
for everyone, including the pacers, since we had to throw some if it away.
He also got coffee in the morning and evening to help wake runners up in the morning or keep them awake at night. Friday was kind of a blur for me. After I ran with Stephanie, I ran a loop on
my own and found that running at my own pace allowed my plantar fasciitis to
relax. It was nice to get a break from that pain. I do remember Jess riding
Jane Herzog’s bike out on the trail checking in on runners. It was nice to see
her. Unfortunately, she did not get a chance to run a loop with me the entire
weekend as she had hoped. She did get to run with others.

Jane Herzog, Jess Mullen, and me

Sara Malcom joined me for a loop in the afternoon
Friday. It’s always a treat to see her since I only seem to see her at events.
I am sad that she will be moving and not have her close by. She was kind
enough to bring me fresh spring rolls as I had requested, but I didn’t eat them
remembering that the peanut in the sauce would probably give me diarrhea like
PNB sandwiches do. Sorry Sara! We took
off together but I found immediately again that my effort to not run too slow
when I had a pacer aggravated my plantar fasciitis. I kindly asked Sara to go
on without me and let me run my own race. She totally understood but joked
later that I fired her. Before she left, she asked if there was anything else I
wanted at the aid station. She suggested popsicles and I thought that was a
fabulous idea since I was getting hot.

On my way in, this loud low
rumbling thunder rolled through and scared the bejeebers out of me. I didn’t
see any lightning but worried about it. But then I saw Ras coming towards me
and was reassured that he was taller than me. There was a brief rainstorm that
actually felt good to me. The rain drops literally evaporated as soon as they
hit my skin, so I didn’t feel like I got very wet. Plus, I was within two miles
from the finish in case I got cold. I saw Matt Hagen running towards me and he
offered a poncho but I told him I was fine. I told Ken to call Scott Serpa and
tell him that I decided that I couldn’t handle having a pacer then because I
needed to just run my own race to let my plantar fascia relax. Scott did get
the message but wanted to run anyway and we talked briefly before he continued
on.

Running in the rain

So I ran a loop by myself. Gwen
wanted to join me for a loop. She carried my spray chalk can to the 3 mile turn
around for the 100 milers and I marked the trail. She then carried it the rest
of the way. I think it was about then that we encountered that unhappy man’s
property again. I waved a friendly hello and told him that this was an all
weekend event. He grunted back, “I know, I called and checked!”Apparently, he continued to harass runners
all weekend, but according to reports, he only bothered women. About half way
through the loop,I also fired Gwen like
I did Sara when my arch started getting tight again. She had to run ahead and
warn Tracy Brown, my night time pacer that I might need some space. It was
getting dark now. I started out with Tracy but told her to run ahead of me when
me foot started hurting again. She kept looking back every time a car drove by
to make sure I was okay. During that short period with her up ahead, I figured
out how to run without hurting my foot. Then I allowed her to run again with me.
And then, my foot just started to relax. The pain pretty much went away, but
now I was really dealing with severe fatigue as we ran into the second night
without any sleep since Thursday morning. Just when I was starting to feel good
again, I could barely stay awake. At one point, she had to hold onto me so that
I would not drift off the trail. I tried everything including Coke, Starbuck’s
Double Shot Espresso, Red Bull, and coffee. Nothing worked. I told her I needed
to just sit down for a little. We got to the half way aid station but the
ground was wet. So I smashed one of the plastic water jugs and sat on that and
used the garbage can lid to lean against the fence. I couldn’t sleep. I just
rested my eyes. I thought doing that would be a change of pace and I would wake
up, but I didn’t. It was during one of these second night loops that I saw Tim
Stroh completing his last loop. I congratulated him but he was barely able to
stay awake himself. I was so proud of his performance. He finished in 43:35. I
was just finishing my 18th loop. Incredible!

Tim Stroh with the 200 mile look﻿

I started having florid hallucinations,
even when it started getting light. I was seeing figures in the branches and
trees. I thought I saw a profile of Richard Nixon. I was seeing gloves on the
trail everywhere. At one point, I think I actually was sleep walking because I
felt I lost a few seconds somewhere.

Tracy Brown (on the right), running here at the Redmond Watershed, got me through the night and to the finish﻿

I finished my 19th
loop by 47:18 and arrived at the start/finish where the 100 milers were milling
around getting ready to start. I had told Tracy that I just wanted to rest my
eyes for about 10 minutes in Gwen’s car before getting going again since I was
sooo very tired. Everyone saw me come in and most of them just stared at me
like I was an endangered species. I think they were scared to even talk to me.
I tried to rest but was having fun just people watching. Finally, I emerged
from the car and people were congratulating me for having made it that far. As
I left to start my 20th loop, people were cheering. I started to run
again and Gwen, who had seen me leave the start walking for the last 40 hours
said, “Show off!” That’s when I decided to kick my heels together. I heard this
collective wow from the crowd, but I nearly toppled myself over doing that. As
soon as I was around the corner, I started walking again. I headed in the
counterclockwise direction down the steep hill. I expected to see the 100
milers heading towards me after they had completed their 3 mile out and back.
Seeing them infused me with energy and I started to pick up the pace. They must
have wondered where I got that energy from. It was great fun saying hi to them
all and thanking them for coming to my party. Of course I was running downhill
when they saw me, but I really did feel great. I think I had a lot of stored up
energy in my legs after gingerly stepping on my plantar fasciitis for hours. I saw Uli
Steidl and Danielle Henty, and of course, I picked up my pace then. I continued to see the 150 milers, but there
were fewer of them. Seven had started but now there were only 4 left, Rachel
Fouladi, Matt Hagen, Francesca Carmichael, and Ron Horton. I am not sure what
the reason was, but Mark Dahlby, Susan Kokesh, and Karen Riddle stopped after
65.4 miles. They looked like they were having fun when I saw them last. During
the night, Rachel was accosted by a different man who lived in a house near the trail.
She said that he was angry that we caused his dog to bark all night and he was
not able to sleep. He told her that if that happened again Friday night, he was
going to “get violent.” So we made sure to keep quiet along that part of the
trail.

Poor Rachel was accosted by an angry neighbor

Gwen was informed and she drove out to the house and talked to this
resident. Ken went along and stayed in the car. Good thing because he probably
would not have been so calm. It sounded like the resident was satisfied that we
had heard his complaint and that we would do everything we could to make sure
runners were quiet in his area. Signs were put up before this section both ways
stating this was a quiet zone and if runners were comfortable, to turn their
lights off in this section, which was difficult because this is one of the more
technical hilly sections.

I finally arrived at the
start/finish to begin my last loop. Gwen had called Mary Hanna to let her know
about when she should arrive. Tracy had planned on leaving us alone but I told
her she was more than welcomed to join us. I’m glad to have shared my last loop
with these ladies. I just took my time and enjoyed the company and seeing all
the other runners. In fact, it was one of my faster later loops and it seemed
to fly by. I stopped frequently and said hi to a bunch of people. It was getting warm
now and I was glad to not have to run another day in the heat. The weather had
been absolutely perfect the entire weekend. The only thing that bothered me was
the cottonwood that was flying everywhere and into everything. Brian Myers finished not long after I took off
on my last loop to take 2nd in 50:25. Way to go!

Brian, steady all weekend

One final climb up that steep
hill and it was a coast to the finish. Mary and Tracy held back but I said they
should run in with me. They helped me get there. We let out a WOOT WOOT and
came into view of the finish. Gwen was there to hand me my buckle. I got a big
hug from her and Jess and of course Ken. I felt a little bit emotional but not
as much as I expected. I think I was just too exhausted to feel anything. I
finished in 52 hours and 50 minutes (Saturday 10:50am). Just about then, the
fire department was doing their daily check. I talked to them a little. I sat
down. I visited. A very nice gentleman who I think lived nearby and used the
trail came up to me and just had wonderful things to say about my event and the
amazing things people were doing. It was great to hear such positive things
coming from someone not involved in the race.

Mary Hanna paced me the last loop

I sat for a little but felt
better walking around and talking to people. I had passed John Wallace III on
my last loop. He was shuffling along. He was on his 15th loop. He
decided to stop. Things were hurting and his pace had slowed enough that he
didn’t think he could finish the final 6 loops before the cut off. I could tell
he was disappointed. He had come so far, 143.6 miles and had to quit.

John Wallace III, thumbs up

I then
saw Bob Satko hobble in. He had just completed his 19th loop but was
hurting. He had been dealing with big blisters on the ball of his big toes for
miles. He looked like he was in severe pain. His family and crew brought him
into his tent and started analyzing the situation. That was when I found out
that there was a woman at the race who was fixing people’s feet. She was the
blister queen at Rocky Raccoon and had come with the Texas contingent. Her name
was Becky Spaulding and she ended up helping many runner’s feet. Tears came to
Bob’s eyes as she removed the mole skin from one blister to further evaluate
the problem. She did not remove the other one since it was sticking well. She
applied new dressings to them. Cliff Richards, my brother-in-law and physical
therapist, massaged his legs and made sure they were clear of injury. He asked
me what else could be done. I suggested some hiking poles to unload his feet
and knees. Cliff went and got him some poles and apparently they did wonders
along with Becky’s help.

Cliff massaging Bob's legs and Becky Spaulding fixing his feet

Ouch!

Bob gritting through the pain

Just as Bob was leaving to start
his 20th loop, Pat Ackley came in at 55:17. Awesome work! I have to
say that Bob and Pat had the most amazing support from their crew and pacers.
It’s all about teamwork.

Pat running with Bob and being paced by his friend Victor Zamudio (middle) all weekend

I noticed how warm it was getting, and before we left
to go home, Ken went and got some buckets, ice, and sponges so that runners who
were overheating could cool themselves off.A bucket was set up at the halfway point as well. Ken finally urged me
to go home, shower, and get some rest. Since no other runner was expected to
finish soon, I decided to leave. Of course, every time I sat for too long, I
stiffened up terribly. I slowly made my way from the car to the house. At some
point, I took a shower. I had no blisters or anything wrong with my feet. They
just hurt. I had a good shower but I didn’t stay in their forever. I went to
bed but could not find a comfortable position. I changed positions every 30
seconds. So I didn’t sleep. Ken could hear me from the living room. He heard me
moan, “Why does that hurt?” My right shoulder was killing me, but I didn’t wear
a hydration pack and I carry my water bottle with my left hand. Just trying to
stay upright for nearly 60 hours had taken it’s toll on my entire body. After
squirming for almost two hours, I wanted to head back and see Bob finish. I got
dressed and packed extra clothes to plan on spending the evening in cooler
temps.

We arrived back to the
start/finish, which was bustling with activity. I got to socialize before Bob
came in. I got some amazed stares at my feet, which looked fabulous. I had little
swelling, no blisters, and all my toenails still there. Many 100 milers came
and went and said hi as they continued on their way but were shocked that I was
back. They fully expected me to be at home resting. Finally, Bob came running
in at 60:25. He looked so relieved to finish. It was a tearful ending with all
his family there. I sat with him a little. So proud of him. Unfortunately, he
had to visit the hospital at some point in the weekend for a few issues,
including one of his blisters getting infected, back spasms, and dehydration. The
good news is that 2 weeks after finishing the race, he returned to run the Lake
Youngs 28.8mi ultra. He ran 2 more loops to get 54 miles for his 54th
birthday. Amazing!

Sweet!

Less than 2 hours later, Brandon
Lott, RD for the Badger Mountain 100, finished at 62:02. He had emailed me
before the race concerned that he did not have the training he had hoped to run 200 miles. He wondered if he should drop to the 100. I told him to compromise
and run the 150. He emailed me back and decided to go for the 200. He was so
excited to meet his goal. I knew he could do it! He ran the fastest 2 final
loops of any 200 mile runner. Clearly, he could have pushed himself harder!

200? No problem!

Night was falling. Ken was ready
to take me home, but I told him I wanted to stay. I sent him home to get some
sleep. He looked exhausted. So did Gwen, but she was going to stay until the
morning. Jess had arrived that evening to stay until the end. Gwen took a nap
in her car, which she set up nicely in the back. I still was not tired. The
first male 100 finished a little before midnight with a time of 17:23. Colin
Miller came down from BC. That’s bedtime for some people. He was able to run
100 miles in the time that many are awake until they go to bed at night. He ran very consistent loop splits. Great
job Colin!

100 mile winner Colin Miller

Matt Hagen finished first for the
150 milers. His wife Betsy had volunteered and then paced him at the end. About
a quarter mile from the finish, Matt prepared for his grand finale by stripping
off his clothes (except for his briefs, although he did think about it but did
not want to get me in trouble). He calculated wrong and ran a little further in
his underwear than he wanted. He crossed the line in 43:54 (1:54am Saturday
night). Good thing it was night because he might have blinded us with his bare
white skin! He had his bib attached to his underwear and reached in to tear off
his tag. I yelled, “NO!” He was immediately
whisked away in a blanket by Betsy, thankfully. Congratulations on your
win Matt! Matt later commented that apparently Tim Stroh did not get the memo
that he was not supposed to have a faster time than the 150 mile winner.

Betsy trying to cover Matt up

Next to arrive was George Orozco
at 2:40am. He finished his 200 in 68:40. George had gone home twice during the
event. How he came back twice, I’ll never know. That takes a lot of willpower.
George had amazing pacers as well. Yitka Winn paced him the last 2 loops and
got him in. His finish was emotional as well with his family there. Way to go
George!

George digging deep

Only 40 minutes later, Ras came in with a time of 69:24. He seemed to
get stronger towards the end. His wife Kathy was with him the entire
weekend.It was great to see him in good
spirits throughout the race!

Ras chillin out

About a half hour later, the first 100 woman,
Kimberly Kuhlmann, finished at 3:53am in a time of 21:53 in her first 100. She
ran a smart race. Congrats!

Kim with her sister Ashley

Our last 200 miler, Ken Michal,
finished at 5:21am Sunday morning, in a time of 71 hours, 21 minutes, 39
minutes before the 200 mile cut off. I was so happy to be there to see him
finish. He was voted most inspirational runner of the weekend, always smiling
and positive. Ken was the only 200 miler not from Washington State. He traveled
from San Francisco. But he had a lot of friends here who came out and supported
him.

Ken sprinting at the finish-love his shirt!

Rachel Fouladi from BC signed up
for the 150 mile but was thrilled to run the longest distance she had ever
tackled of 103 miles. She was another runner who was very positive and it was a
privilege to meet her. Francesca
Carmichael finished first female in the 150 mile race with a time of 50:23. Ron
Horton held on to finish in 51:53.

Francesca, the only 150 mile female

Ron Horton, completing 150

Since I was awake, I started to
help race directing, but Gwen and Jess still were in charge. They had taken
turns coming and going so that each would get some rest. My husband filled in
the gaps when they were not there.

Race Central. Gwen, co-RD far right. Timing system was simple. I had three watches for each race set inside a plastic container so that the stop buttons would not get accidentally bumped. I first had to see if the timers would go past 72 hours. It went up to 99 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds. It all worked out very well. I stayed awake 36 more hours after I
finished to see everyone finish. That means from the time I woke up Thursday morning until my first sleep Sunday afternoon was 86 hours without sleep.

Starters Finishers % Ave Female age Ave Male age

200 miles 15 9 60 41 42

150 miles 7 3 43 50 44

100 miles 47 37 79 43 45

All distances 69 49 71 44 44

Not many people have completed 100 miles, but
now we have an even rarer breed of 200 milers, and 8 of them are from
Washington! Ken Michal was the one out of state 200 mile finisher. Thank you to all runners for choosing my race to challenge yourself, especially the first 100 milers. You all rocked!

Finally getting some rest

The weekend was a success. So
many people came and went that I lost track. The results were getting posted on
Facebook so that people who had to work Thursday and Friday could follow our
progress. Many runners, pacers, volunteers, and spectators asked if I will put
on this race again. I plan to as long as the parks department approves it
again. I know I posted mostly pictures of 200 and 150 milers. If you would like to see more 100 mile runners, please go to Takao Suzuki's facebook page.

He took a ton of pictures! I finally got some restless sleep Sunday night and more restorative
sleep Monday night. I found that running and race directing took it out of me
and plan on just directing it from now on. I continued to clean up after the
race Monday and Tuesday and had to work the rest of the week. By Wednesday, I
was itching to run again. I decided at the last minute to sign up for the
Rainier to Ruston 50K and finished in 5:44. This was a painful run only because
it was mostly pavement. The parts that were trail were very muddy and wore me
out. The pavement aggravated my plantar fascia again and I vowed to stay away
from asphalt for a while. Two weeks later, I had a good run at a very hot Echo
Lake 50 Mile coming in a distant 2nd female in 9:58. But I was back
on trails and loved it!

Get dirty!

About Me

I live on 5 acres with my woodworking genius husband Ken Richards (kenrichardsfurniture.com) in Maple Valley, WA. I am a Physician Assistant in orthopedic surgery. I work to play. I started long distance running in marathons (lots of them). I now focus mainly on ultras. Running in the mountains on single track trails is what I enjoy most.